In the process of the Bedford County Courthouse’s renovation, some hidden historical tidbits have been found.  

During Tuesday night’s County financial management committee meeting, archives director Carol Roberts reported on the archives update. After construction workers had moved some cabinetry out on the second floor, she said a great 1890s book came to surface.  

“It was an excellent docket of money of paid dues,” explained Roberts. For example, any fees that were paid in a case, such as Smith v Jones, the fees are structured in the docket. Roberts said, since the book’s information was already recorded in minutes, it must have slipped behind the file cabinet and been forgotten, only to be discovered over a hundred years later.  

From the hand-written names to the details of the account, Roberts said it really makes the area’s history “come alive.”  

Roberts, retired from the Tennessee State Library, also said a whole series of architectural drawings for New Center Church Road and the junction in Flat Creek were discovered.  

“The significant piece with that for researchers will be every single landowner is documented because they were gaining the right-of-way for the new road,” Roberts said.  

Roberts believes that since the drawings are dated 1934 that they represent a Works Progress Administration (WPA) construction project from the New Deal era―the time in which former president Franklin D. Roosevelt tried to stimulate the economy during the Great Depression through creating government-funded jobs.  

Roberts said all the documents were “nice and filthy,” but Roberts assured she is very excited to clean them.  

Also, in the basement of the Courthouse, original foundation rock wall was found as workers were taking down walls blasting out all the concrete floor.  

Archives also received “generous donations” of research materials that will enhance the County records, Roberts said. For example, some researchers’ master thesis on the history of Bedford County were recently given to the archives.  

“They’re excellent reference pieces to apply to the County records,” said Roberts.  

History in the making 

As new roads and electricity were brought to Bedford in the 1930s to benefits the residents then, the County today continues to oversee projects―as Commissioner Greg Vick said during the meeting―to have a “rendezvous with destiny.”  

Exciting news announced  

“Excited news” during Tuesday’s financial meeting that a $1 million site development grant was awarded to Shelbyville from the State of Tennessee for the construction of sewer lines at the 231 North Business Park.  

According to a recent press release, the grant was a competitive one, awarded to only 11 other recipients and totaling $8 million with the intent to “help communities prepare industrial sites for business investment.”‪‬ 

School system update‬  

Bedford County Director of Schools Tammy Garrett said during the committee that the new Community High School wing will be opened in the fall of 2023 and the new elementary school, planned to be built near the 437 Bypass, will be opened in the fall of 2024. 

The new elementary school should alleviate the number of students in portables for Eakin and Eastside Elementary Schools, according to Garrett.  

Law enforcement committee  

During the law enforcement committee meeting, County Fire Chief Mark Thomas asked about the lack of handicap ramps around the street at Learning Way Elementary.  

Thomas assured that it’s a simple fix but suggested bringing this concern up to the property committee. County Mayor Chad Graham added that the benefit of schools conducting different emergency drills is to locate issues such as this.  

Year-end wrap-up  

Commissioner Greg Vick also gave a “ positive ” end of the year list of accomplishments in Bedford County which included :  

-The County lowering the tax rate to $1.97  

-The State providing $43.7 million for the new TCAT-S facility  

-$4 million for a new road at the industrial park  

-The new hospital partnership with Vanderbilt  

-Shelbyville’s historic downtown revitalization 

 -The restoration of the courthouse and the new archives building (done without property tax money being spent, Vick added)  

-Clean water brought to Union Ridge and other communities  

-Broadband expansion to more than 2500 residents  

“We are no longer lunging from crisis to crisis. We are managing our growth... Things are happening in Bedford County for the best,” said Commissioner Vick. 

Future items  

Discussed during the courthouse and property committee meeting was the City of Shelbyville’s request from city manager Joshua Ray for the County to appropriate $100,000 to assist in completing Shelbyville’s downtown square sidewalk project.  

These funds would help take down the old light posts around the courthouse, put up new ones, as well as remove overhead powerlines, Commissioner Julie Sanders explained. The total cost for this portion of the project will cost around $290,000.  

Essentially, Mayor Graham said there was confusion over whether the City or County owned the light poles on the inner circle of the Courthouse (on the Pope’s Café side to the First United Methodist Church side).  

Uncertain of this, this portion of the project was not budgeted at the onslaught of the sidewalk project’s grant process, according to Mayor Graham. The Courthouse is County property, while all the lights on the Square belong to the City.  

Providing the $100,000 “would ensure the project goes ahead and gets finished...Instead of going back and tearing up everything up to do this later, I do recommend that you highly consider doing this,” said Graham.  

Graham suggested that if the commissioners would like to go through with the appropriation that they can use the funds gained from the selling of the gymnasium at Harris Middle School, which brought in a couple hundred thousand, according to Graham.  

This item will be discussed and voted on at the next finance committee meeting.  

The rules and legislative committee discussed the possibility of naming a bridge, located at the corner of Unionville-Deason and Longview roads, after former commissioner Jimmy Patterson who passed away Sept. 19, 2020, at the age of 82. He was a U.S. Marine veteran and served as commissioner for 13 years.  

However, the commission is still discussing whether his accomplishments suffice enough in justifying the honor.  

Commissioner Jason Sanders sits in Patterson’s former seat and has gained a petition of 25 signatures to name the bridge.  

The item will be placed on the agenda at next month’s commission meeting on Jan. 11 at 7 p.m. at Shelbyville Central High School’s auditorium.